Minerva has increased its liquidity by rolling over its debt with long-term debentures. We are affirming our corporate credit rating on Minerva and revising the outlook to positive from stable. We believe Minerva will continue deleveraging as its greenfield projects start generating stronger cash flow. On June 27, 2011, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'B' long-term corporate credit rating on Minerva S.A. At the same time, we have revised the outlook to positive from stable. The rating action reflects Minerva's improving capital structure, as it has successfully reduced short-term refinancing risks and improved its overall debt-amortization schedule after it issued mandatorily convertible debentures. It also reflects Minerva's stable (and, under our projections, improving) credit metrics, even in a
